"Even when reading is impossible, the presence of books acquired produces such an ecstasy that the buying of more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching towards infinity … we cherish books even if unread, their mere presence exudes comfort, their ready access reassurance." – A. Edward Newton

Categories

Rules, and rating.

So this will be my first post on my new blog Jonathan Reads. If you are seeing this then it is likely because you are way too bored, and this was the last link in a long line of links you followed randomly to get here! You are not alone as my girlfriend, and mom both read these reviews. Actually that’s not true.. sadly it is just my favorite trio – me, myself, and I. Now that you are here however I hope my reviews are both helpful, and entertaining.

Speaking of reviews I wanted to make my first post to also be my first book review. It had a certain symmetry to it. Upon further reflection I felt I should post my rating system beforehand to avoid what would surely be an atomic backlash as every book is sure to be someone else’s favorite.

I’ll K.I.S.S. by doing 1 to 5 stars with 1 being the lowest rating, and 5 being the highest.

5 Stars – These are my favorite books. I have likely already reread them more than once, and will do so over, and over again.

4 Stars – These are books I enjoyed. I will likely be rereading them in the future.

3 Stars – These are books I won’t reread, but I enjoyed reading them the first time.

2 Stars – I did not enjoy reading these books. I’m not saying they aren’t good books, but they aren’t my particular cup of tea. I definitely won’t be rereading them.

1 Star – I hated these books. To get just one star I feel they are poorly written, and am truly amazed they were ever published. I likely didn’t finish them, and will definitely never touch them again.

A few quick rules I have made for myself. First, I will only review books I have actually read. I will even read them to completion unless it is unbearable for me to do so. See the 1 Star explanation above. This should be obvious, but I shit you not I have seen reviews where the reviewer hadn’t.

Second, I curse. I will keep this to a minimum, but it happens. It is how I think, and how I talk.

Lastly, I will do my very best to not give any spoilers. My goal is to give fun, occasionally helpful reviews not, a full on summary. I hate it when books/movies get spoiled for me, and will not be that guy!